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Protected by God We Can Witness

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Rev. Enzo Pellini
Luke 8:26-39
 
26 Jesus and his disciples sailed to the area of the Gerasenes across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped on shore, he was met by a man from the town. The man was controlled by demons. For a long time he had not worn clothes or lived in a house. He lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God, what do you want with me? I beg you, don’t hurt me!” 29 This was because Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times the spirit had taken hold of him. The man’s hands and feet were chained, and he was kept under guard. But he had broken his chains. And then the demon had forced him to go out into lonely places in the countryside.
 
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
 
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus again and again not to order them to go into the Abyss.
 
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. And he allowed it. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep bank. They ran into the lake and drowned.
 
34 Those who were tending the pigs saw what had happened. They ran off and reported it in the town and countryside. 35 The people went out to see what had happened. Then they came to Jesus. They found the man who was now free of the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet. He was dressed and thinking clearly. All this made the people afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the others how the man who had been controlled by demons was now healed. 37 Then all the people who lived in the area of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them. They were filled with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
 
38 The man who was now free of the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away. He said to him, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away. He told people all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
 
***
Today we are once again touching on a topic that has to do with the spiritual aspect or the spiritual dimension. Last Sunday we talked about the Holy Spirit and the Trinity, as the invisible reality of God. Today we talk about invisible and spiritual things as well, but in this case, they do not have to do with the things of God, but rather with Satan.
 
It is a little bit complicated nowadays to talk about Satan, or the devil, or the demon, in our highly materialistic and scientificist society that wants nothing to do with the spiritual or non-visible dimensions. And at the same time with a society so proud of the technological and scientific achievements of the human being, where many believe that this already surpasses everything that has to do with what is not measurable or not scientifically verifiable, call it faith and all spiritual things.
 
For me as a pastor, it is difficult many times to have to preach these topics, because we are dealing, as I said, with this situation. And even sometimes it is also difficult and sad to have to see how there are even preachers who do not believe in this biblical reality at all and seem to stand on the same ideas as non-believing society, even sometimes ridiculing or belittling the aspect of faith and spirituality in other ministers.
I have even known preachers who deny this aspect, emphasizing that the essence of Christians should only be to help socially as an exercise of neighbourly love, (which is very good, that is the second part of the Greatest Commandment; Mt 22:37-40) but they forget the first part, that is worshiping God in spirit and in obedience to his Word. And so many churches even come to not distinguish at all from a social assistance work, for example.
But as on every Sunday I will try to preach the message that has been entrusted to me.
 
Today’s story leads us to a wild and indomitable man who was possessed by a legion of demons. And what we will notice is that the Lord Jesus Christ has full dominion over this issue. Not only at that time, but he has it now in our days as well.
Of course, this demoniac was an extreme case, but nonetheless, it is a warning of what it would mean for human beings to perish under the power of sin and Satan. And this will be so, unless they are delivered by Christ (Eph 2:2) (Col 1:13).
 
Once the demons left the man, the change was radical. Now he was with Jesus “He was sitting at Jesus’ feet. He was dressed and thinking clearly.” No one had dreamed of getting anything like this from this man. And it is that the power of the Lord Jesus Christ reaches where neither the government, nor social workers, nor psychiatrists, nor family, nor friends can reach. Nobody before had managed to make this man at peace with himself and with his fellow people.
 
The same thing happens today. There are people who, like the possessed person in the story, end up in that state, and there are others who, to a lesser degree, also have similar problems.
 
The gospel inform us of the fact that a person can be enslaved by more than one demon at the same time (Mt 12:45) (Mk 16:9), but this case is unique. What is it trying to teach us?
In the same way that the Roman Empire had managed to conquer Israel through its legions, (each legion comprised of an absolute total of 10,000 soldiers) this miserable man was totally occupied and dominated by the demonic forces that kept him in a situation of oppression and death. We note then that the purpose of the devil towards the human being is of a military type: ‘to conquer and dominate’. That is, getting away from fellowship with God, getting away from church, getting away from Sunday worship, getting away from the sacrament with brothers and sisters, getting away from daily personal devotion, through our prayer, our reading of the Bible, our praise, everything that truly builds and strengthens our own spirit. In this way the devil manages to have a spiritual control over our being that makes us unable to feed our spirit through the means of grace. This, over time, makes us weaken spiritually and completely and also physically, because the spirit has control over our entire being.
 
How do we feel when we hear this words? Do we accept it or do we reject it? This is part of our spirituality. In the same way that we preach and confess the Holy Spirit, and say “I believe in the Holy Spirit” as the invisible presence of God, in the same way we have to be aware that the Bible teaches us too: Put on all of God’s armor. Then you can remain strong against the devil’s evil plans.  Our fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world. (Eph 6:11-12)
 
What does this mean? What does it mean to put on the armor of God? You see that here again, now the apostle in the New Testament, uses military language, he says armour. An armour was used in ancient times to protect oneself, in a hand-to-hand fight.
Why Satan wants to fight? Because he wants to destroy us. He wants to destroy the fellowship we have with God. And our question this morning: How can we best resist the devil in this 21st century world? Resisting the devil in the best way is as Martin Luther also tells us in still updated words: “The word of God and prayer are the best weapons. Whoever serves these, the angels will be by their side.
 
At Christmas, every year, we like to represent the Christmas scene and include angels in it. The children dress as angels. The angels existed and exist, they are a reality. Angels behave mostly as messengers of God, sometimes as protection, spiritual beings of God. If angels exist, they can help us because they are sent by God, we know that they are spiritual beings who, as they please, can make themselves visible as well.
In the same way there are spiritual beings that are not of God that we call evil spirits or demons. Those are the ones who desperately asked to get out of the body of the demon-possessed when Jesus stood in front of them. Those also exist.
How significant it is that when many times in our society there are many who deny or ridicule the belief in God, in Jesus, in the spiritual, in the Bible, according to the story, the same demons, instead, did recognize Jesus as the Son of God. That is one more proof of the existence of God and Christ and of the spiritual world.
 
“Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away. He told people all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
This is what Jesus said to the exorcised, to the restored, to the healed.
We are healthy, restored by Christ, badly or well we want to take care of our fellowship with God, because it is the only thing that will fully hold us.
We strive, with our strengths and with our weaknesses, we do our best. Jesus calls us to take care of that fellowship with him. And tell others about our struggles, but also about our new life in Christ and the protection we make of our faith in Him before an indifferent or unbelieving world.
 
Amen.

Genuine Surrender

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Sermon for the 5th Sunday in Lent
Rev. Enzo Pellini
John 12:1-8
It was six days before the Passover Feast. Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. Lazarus was the one Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was given at Bethany to honor Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was among the people at the table with Jesus. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard. It was an expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the sweet smell of the perfume.

4 But Judas Iscariot didn’t like what Mary did. He was one of Jesus’ disciples. Later he was going to hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold? Why wasn’t the money given to poor people? It was worth a year’s pay.” 6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor. He said it because he was a thief. Judas was in charge of the money bag. He used to help himself to what was in it.

7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “The perfume was meant for the day I am buried. 8 You will always have the poor among you. But you won’t always have me.”


Today’s Gospel shows us how important it is to be able to imitate a model way of gratitude and love for Christ such as that shown by Mary of Bethany.

Our tradition invites us to remember the passion and resurrection of Jesus in this season that we call Lent with Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. Today we are invited to understand and appreciate the work done by Christ on the cross. Many of us are not fully aware of the greatness of this event. Only the Holy Spirit can give us a true understanding of what it means that Jesus died on the cross for us. Although if we may not fully understand it, don’t worry, the most important thing is that we can say: – “Thank you Lord for your redeeming work on the cross and thank you for allowing me to believe in you as the risen Son of God, present and alive in my life. I adore you and praise you for it.” That is what it is all about every time we want to celebrate the season of Lent, we want to value the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and be willing to teach others what he did through the good news and our testimony of faith, and invite them to believe in Him to may they too attain salvation.

Mary of Bethany, if you remember, she was the one who sat close to Jesus and she wanted to hear his word every time he came home. You may remember the story of Mary and Martha. Martha was the industrious sister who wanted to serve Jesus with her food and Mary with her attentiveness. Mary was the sister of Lazarus, the man that Jesus had resurrected. And the twelve disciples were probably also there in the house of the three siblings because it is mentioned that Judas was there, who would later betray Jesus.

When we quickly read this story, it may not touch us too much, a woman who poured expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus, what a beautiful gesture, we may not feel the dimension of this. That is why I would like to give some more data. The plant of nard grows between 3,000 and 5,000 meters in the Himalayas of Nepal, as well as in northern India and China. 70 plants are needed to extract a small amount of perfume from the roots. The Hindus used it as medicinal oil and for perfume. Owning pure perfumes like nard was a form of investment in those days. Let us remember that at that time there were no banks like today, nor sophisticated safes and a way to invest or save money was through other goods such as fabrics, perfumes and for the richest silver and gold coins. It is certain that this perfume will have come from Mary’s savings. It says in the Bible that the amount that she poured was worth 300 denarii. The denarius was a Roman coin. They used the currency of use in those days, as today we might use US dollars, for example, it was a common exchange currency. A denarius was equivalent to one day’s pay for a day labourer. A day labourer worked throughout the Roman day, which went from sunup to sundown from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening. If we could convert the worth of a denarius to today’s value in Canada, we could say that it is the equivalent of $120 CAD, if we only calculate an 8-hour labour day. This tells us that 300 denarii are $36,000 CAD. That was the value of the perfume that Mary poured.
Mary poured these three hundred grams (or millilitre) of perfume on the feet of Jesus as an offering or reverence.

Why perfume? Why do we perfume ourselves both men and women? What is the meaning of this? Or why do we use fragrances, air fresheners or incense burners to give our homes a pleasant smell? Because smell, like the other five senses, is also an important aspect of our lives. We want what others smell of us to be pleasant. Good smell or fragrance denotes beauty, cleanliness and therefore appeal. In the same way, pleasant smells denote purity, beauty and a feeling of pleasure, peace and happiness. These feelings are also reflected through our sense of smell. The pleasant smells that perfumes and essences give off are appreciated and valued because they make us feel good and give us happiness.
That is why the more durable, strong and pleasant to smell the perfumes are, the more appreciated and expensive they are. There are perfumes so expensive today that a bottle may cost upwards of $5,000 CAD.

The bottle of perfume that Mary poured represented not only her savings or money, but part of her life, her total surrender to God. To show true worship and praise that jar had to be poured or donated to God. This woman who pours out all her values in an instant wants to show her devotion and total trust in Jesus. We do not know if she was aware that in some way this anointing prepared Jesus for his funeral, as when the Hebrews prepared a corpse for the grave. But without knowing it, she also fulfilled this purpose and Jesus made it clear.

Jesus does not deny the possibility of giving generously, be it money or goods for his work, for the mission, for his church, to honour him, as long as it comes from a loving, grateful and genuine heart. It is very likely that the person who gives a lot for God is also generous in every way, and is also giving to people in need. That is what Jesus meant when he replied to the dishonest Judas: “You will always have the poor among you. But you won’t always have me”. We can always help those in need, and we are challenged to do so, but Jesus also wants to see what kind of surrender and adoration we are showing him. He wants to see what our hearts are like. Every time Jesus looks at us, he is looking at the genuineness of our heart, our interior and how honest we are before him even if no one is looking at us. That is the most important.

From Mary of Bethany, we can draw a lesson for us today. Jesus is most interested in whether we have really given ourselves to him. That is the most important thing he tells us today from this story. People who can have a genuine and open heart to Jesus will be able to love him and give everything to him and his church. Jesus is not interested in what we are showing others about how we are, but what we show him from within what we are.

This Lent, God invites us to be honest with him. To take stock if we are really devoted to him as he would like. The values of Christ often go beyond the values of society and what society considers logical, rational and sensible. The history of the day shows us. How can we genuinely love God by imitating Mary’s testimony? The season of Lent can well be a time for a reunion with Jesus and a challenge to leave those things that are not necessarily what Jesus seeks from us. He is waiting for a change in us. In the same way that the apostle Paul tells us in Phil 3:7 “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ”.
God is expecting our offering, but not only of material things but the complete and living surrender of our whole being to him and to be able to follow him genuinely. Therein lies the challenge of being able to be grateful to Christ for his work on the cross and thus loving God.
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

God Always Forgives Sins

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Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent- E. Pellini
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
The tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were whispering among themselves. They said, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them a story
“There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger son spoke to his father. He said, ‘Father, give me my share of the family property.’ So the father divided his property between his two sons.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son packed up all he had. Then he left for a country far away. There he wasted his money on wild living. 14 He spent everything he had. Then the whole country ran low on food. So the son didn’t have what he needed. 15 He went to work for someone who lived in that country. That person sent the son to the fields to feed the pigs. 16 The son wanted to fill his stomach with the food the pigs were eating. But no one gave him anything.
17 “Then he began to think clearly again. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough food! But here I am dying from hunger! 18 I will get up and go back to my father. I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven. And I have sinned against you. 19 I am no longer fit to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him. He was filled with tender love for his son. He ran to him. He threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattest calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 This son of mine was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “The older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants. He asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come home,’ the servant replied. ‘Your father has killed the fattest calf. He has done this because your brother is back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry. He refused to go in. So his father went out and begged him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I have always obeyed your orders. You never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But this son of yours wasted your money with some prostitutes. Now he comes home. And for him you kill the fattest calf!’
31 “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me. Everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad. This brother of yours was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.’ ”

A wonderful story of repentance and turning to God. A story that can cause the heartbreak of many and even tears. Or a story that may be just nice to some others. Why the difference? Because many of us find ourselves, perhaps, in the eldest son’s position. The eldest son represents believers faithful to God and his church. The youngest son represents people who once had fellowship with God, but because of sin they lost it. The father represents God in this story.

The eldest son represents believers, perhaps like us, who have believed in Christ their entire lives and have been part of the church for many years. Perhaps we never had the misfortune to fall into sin or to separate ourselves from God and the church in such a drastic way, as in the parable, like the separation of the youngest son from the father’s house.

This parable is addressed first of all, to Jesus’ contemporaries. The younger son who wants to leave the father’s house not only represents sinners, but also the people of Israel who did not want to accept and obey Jesus as the Son of God. And this is rejecting God himself, the Father. The religious of then, rejected that Jesus was in touch with sinners, that is with the marginalized of the Jewish religion, such as tax collectors and prostitutes, so Jesus wanted them to be compassionate with them. Not with the sin, but with the people separated from God.
Jesus wanted to show them that the relationship with God must be a relationship of obedience of His commandments, but at the same time to show sinners his same love and mercy so that they too can return to have a fellowship with God the Father.

Likewise, it causes us, sometimes, incomprehension or rejection, as it happened with the eldest son, that people that were separated from God can obtain grace and forgiveness, and they begin to live a life full of faith and trust and commitment to the church that, sometimes it is difficult to understand and to accept. Well, this new fellowship sometimes becomes even more committed than ours. Such was the younger son’s change, and his repentance and recognition of what it means to once again live a life in fellowship with his father.

Two very important messages come from this parable for us today and here: First, sin separates and breaks the relationship with God and that this can happen to anyone of us, we are not exempt from it. And secondly, we must be compassionate with those who are in sin and try to love them so that they can once again find the way to Christ.

I would also like to talk today about the concept of sin. Jesus himself uses this expression. Jesus does not deny the existence of sin. He says that: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)
He makes a clear difference between the one who sins and the one who doesn’t. For him it is clear that they are not two types of people alike.

The word sin in our society, especially for non-believers, sounds like an old-fashioned expression. It’s like something from the past, even outdated and backward. A word that is only used in certain churches, but perhaps not in our realm. For us it is not an old-fashioned word. It is a word that it’s still valid. Sin means nothing more and nothing less than separation from God, remaining far from God’s laws and the benefit of a fellowship with him.

And what is this separation? Or, how can we realize that we live apart from God? The only reference we have to prove it is the Bible. When we do not live our life according to the word of God, we are living a life in our own way, and not as God wants, that is, not according to his will.
Today there are many who question what the Bible says and believe they have more authority over it by wanting to interpret it at their own convenience or put before other philosophies or principles for the interpretation. There are many who question the Bible, saying that the Bible needs to be reinterpreted or adapted to our times, as if our generation were the authorized possessor to give another interpretation or omit certain parts of the Bible according to their opinion. I even heard it once said: God does not intervene in the world through a ‘mere book’—meaning the Bible. They say that God appears and manifests himself in many other ways. And that is true, God constantly manifests himself through his Holy Spirit, but that does not contradict that He himself has manifested more than anything to human beings in the written form of what we now call the Bible. There the Will of God is expressed. That is why we must be careful not to confuse the ‘spirit of this world’ (1 Cor 2:12) with the Holy Spirit of God. Every time we approach the Bible with faith and respect for God, we will receive a message that goes beyond our limits.

For Jesus, sin was something clear. It means to be separated from God. Live a life that has nothing to do with his word. Jesus never discriminated against anyone. He was always there nearby; he approached sinners, but with the intention that they repent and turn to God. And he got it, more than anything because he is God, but also because of his neighbourly love. This is the love that Jesus asks us to put into practice.

Some time ago I read a quote by Billy Graham that I liked, and I am sharing with you: “It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love.”
We have to see the whole world with the eyes of Jesus, worthy of being loved, but not for that reason approve what many are doing that may not concur with the will of God. Jesus does not approve of sin.
He expelled from the temple the merchants who wanted to take advantage of people and so desecrate and disrespect the temple; He accused Judas of betraying him; He faced the corrupt life of Zacchaeus the tax collector or the disorderly life of the Samaritan woman; or the morally wrong life of the adulteress. Although he accepted them all, he also forgave them “from their sin” and told them more than once: “Go, and sin no more” (Jn 8:11). He also said: “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk 5:32).
The society in which we live, however, sometimes not so Christian, tells us to do everything that makes us feel good, to do what we feel, to enjoy life, because the most important thing is to feel happy and love the entire world, showing peace, and happiness, and love. And that’s all true; it does not contradict Jesus’ promise when he assures us of “a live to the full” (Jn 10:10) for all who follow him. But that life in fullness is a new life in Christ based on his teachings.

When Jesus in the words of the father of the parable speaks: “This brother of yours was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.” He is speaking not only of a conversion, that is, of beginning to believe in Christ as the Son of God, but also of a change of life. It is not enough to say: I believe in God, but we are invited to live out God with our way of life.
If today we ask Jesus, where can we get the information to know what are the things that you want us to change so that we can be in your fellowship again? Surely Jesus would tell us:
“They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:21) Where are those commandments? In the Word of God, the Bible, that is the foundation of our faith.
Throughout the history of salvation, we see in the Bible, and in the history of the church that God worked and manifested himself through his Spirit in personal lives, in families, and in many communities that were faithful to his word, it is not otherwise.

May God allow us to remain faithful to His Word that is still valid. And that, through our commitment, the Holy Spirit may work in our midst, so that our lives are filled with the wisdom of God and the true love of his Son Jesus Christ. And may God’s favour and joy for having returned again and again to the father’s house come true.

Amen